Automatic gun



April 25, 1944. P. R. HlGsoN 2,347,559

AUTOMATIC GUN Filed June 18, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 P. R. HIGSON AUTOMATIC GUN April 25. y1944.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 18, 1942 Per pg Patented Apr. 25, 1944 AUTOMATIC GUN Percy Reuben Hgson, Sidcup, England, assigner to Vickers-Armstrongs Limited, London, England, a British company Application June 18, 1942, Serial No. 447,572 In Great Britain March 3, 1941 2 Claims.

This invention relates to automatic guns of the long recoil operated type wherein the barrel and breech block move together rearwardly to the full extent during recoil and the breech block is left momentarily in its recoiled position Whilst the barrel is moving forwardly to its initial position, the barrel being thus stripped off the empty cartridge case which is left in position on the face of the breech block, the breech block after ejection of the empty cartridge case moving forwardly to its initial position and at the same time feeding a fresh round into the chamber. The invention is particularly applicable to light shell firing guns of the above type and is concerned with the ejection of the empty cartridge cases whilst the breech block remains stationary thereby permitting of the use of the smallest possible opening in the gun for the ejection oi the empty cases.

In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect, the same will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figures 1 to 4 are diagrammatic plan views illustrating the operation of the ejector; and

Figure is an end elevation of the ejector and its associated cam.

The ejector consists of a lever I pivotally mounted in a horizontal plane about the point 2, the lever being carried by an extension 3 of the barrel. The lever is formed with a forwardly projecting arm 4 which engages a cam 5 on the casing t oi the gun, the cam being pivotally mounted to move in a vertical plane for a purpose hereinafter referred to.

In Figure 1 the barrel 'i is shown in its most forward position, i. e. in the firing position. After ring the barrel recoils to the full extent and in Figure 2 the barrel is shown moving forwardly to its initial position after recoil, momentarily leaving the breech block 8 in the recoiled position, the empty cartridge case 9 having been left in position on the face of the breech block as a result of its engagement by the extractor.

In Figure 3 the barrel has moved still further forwardly, towards its initial position causing the boss I0 on the lever I to engage the cam 5, the inclined face of the cam thus causing the lever to pivot about its pivotal point 2 against the action of spring i I, the extremity of the arm #thus engaging the empty case 9 and serving to push it laterally off the face of the breech block as in Figures 3 and 4. The nal position of the arm I during ejection is indicated by dotted lines in Figure 4. By this means ejection through the discharge opening I6 is not violent being actuated indirectly by the barrel spring, the spring II serving to return the lever I to its initial position.

In Figure 1 the barrel has regained its initial firing position and a fresh round has been fed into the chamber by the forwardly moving breech block.

During recoil it is necessary for the lever I to pass the cam without resulting in inward pivotal movement of the lever, and for this purpose the cam is pivotally mounted about a pin I2 but is maintained normally in a horizontal position by means of the spring urged plunger I3 (see Figure 5). The cam 5 is formed with an inclined face Ill on its under surface, which face during recoil movement of the barrel is engaged by an inclined face I5 on the boss II] thereby causing the cam to lift about the pin I2 into the position shown by dotted lines in Figure 5 to permit the lever to pass under it without resulting in pivotal movement of said lever, the spring II serving to maintain the lever in the desired position. After the lever has passed the cam the spring urged plunger returns the cam to its horizontal position.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. In an automatic gun of the long recoil operated type wherein the barrel and breech block move together rearwardly to the full extent during recoil and the breech block is left momentarily in its recoiled position whilst the barrel is moving forwardly to its initial position, the barrel being thus stripped off the empty cartridge case which is left in position on the face of the breech block, the breech block after ejection of the empty cartridge case moving forwardly to its initial position and at the same time feeding a fresh round into the chamber, a lever type ejector pvotally mounted on an extension of the gun barrel and including an arm for engaging the side of the empty cartridge case on the face of the breech block as a result of pivotal movement of said lever, a cam mounted upon the gun casing in a position in which it will be engaged by said lever during the return movement of the barrel after recoil and thereby cause said lever to pivot and its associated arm to engage and eject the empty case, said cam being pivotally mounted on the gun casing and so shaped that it Will turn about its pivotal point as a result of engagement of the lever therewith during recoil movement of the barrel and breech block and thus permit the lever to pass the cam Without operating the latter during recoil.

2. In an automatic gun having cam operated cartridge case ejecting means as claimed in claim 1, said cam being pivotally mounted on the gun casing for engagement by the lever type ejector When the latter is moving in either direction, said cam and lever being formed with inclined faces which engage' during recoil and cause the cam to lift about its pivotal point and permit the lever to pass the cam Without resulting in pivotal movement of said lever.

PERCY REUBEN HIGSON. 

